Though it was unearthed around 17 years ago, the “one-of-a-kind” case is still fresh in RKS Rathore’s memory. Cannibalism, sexual abuse, and murder define the 2006 Nithari Killings, also called Nithari Kand, that shook the nation to its core, says the retired IPS officer, who was posted in Noida as senior superintendent of police (SSP) in 2006-07.
The Allahabad High Court on Monday cleared main accused Surinder Koli of all charges in 12 cases. His employer and co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher was also acquitted in two cases.
“I could connect to the case well because, on the very day of my joining at Noida sector-20 in 2006, a complaint of a missing child was filed. In my first inspection note, I raised the possibilities of child trafficking gangs or superstition being behind the case of missing children,” said Rathore.
Officials with Uttar Pradesh Police said though it’s difficult to say when it all began, it was reported in 2003 that a large number of children had been going missing from Nithari village in Noida’s sector-31. Though the parents filed complaints, nothing much could be done.
According to officials, in 2005, a few children playing cricket found a plastic bag with human remains in a drain behind an old bungalow, D-5, in Nithari. But this incident too seemingly failed to shake up the authorities sufficiently.
Then in 2006, a girl named Payal went missing after informing her father that she was going to Moninder Singh Pander’s bungalow, said Rathore. “Initially, Nandlal (the father) went to the bungalow D-5 where Pandher lived. But, his servant Surinder Koli told Nandlal that Pandher was not in Noida. Not satisfied with Koli’s response, Nandlal lodged an FIR,” the retired IPS officer said.
Police launched a search operation during which it managed to find Payal’s mobile phone. The call detail records revealed that Koli had called Payal a day before she went missing, said Rathore. “Based on the evidence, we arrested Koli. But since there was nothing concrete, he had to be released,” he added.
But Payal’s father, who is said to be the real hero behind unearthing the Nithari horror, went to court. On his plea, the police were ordered to re-investigate the case. “On investigating further, we found several plastic bags filled with human skeletons from the drain located at the backside of Pandher’s bungalow. The sight was too horrific to describe and I can still feel the pungent smell from the crime scene. It was choking,” the retired officer added.
On December 29, 2006, more skeletons were unearthed from the same drain, he said. However, the police failed to get concrete evidence in the case which by then had become a national issue. “Soon after, the case was handed over to the CBI on January 11, 2007 for further investigation,” Rathore added.
He said UP Police had worked hard on the case and had even sent a team to Kolkata to look into the possibility of sex trade or any child trafficking gang being behind the disappearance of the Nithari children, but nothing much was found. Rathore said that during interrogation, Koli had also admitted to his fantasy to “feed upon the flesh of the children but he said he stopped doing that since he did not relish it”.
Some officials familiar with the case said that nothing much happened even after the CBI took over the probe. However, they said, later Koli confessed that he lured the victims–9 girls, 2 boys, and 5 women–into the house, murdered them, and after that tried to have sex with the bodies, attempted to eat them, and threw the remains into the drain behind the bungalow.
Koli, who was Pandher’s house help, had also confessed that all the murders were carried out by him in the drawing room, after which he would drag the bodies to the bathroom, chop them up, cook and eat some, and then throw the rest into the drain, said officials.
Rathore said he is sure that justice would be done with the poor people of Nithari “who lost their loved ones to the predators”.
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